American Society of Preventive Cardiology

Presented by Gregory S. Thomas, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor of Medicine,
University of California, Irvine, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Horus Study

Sponsored by the American Society for Preventive Cardiology
Friday, March 5, 2010
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Hilton Union Square,
San Francisco, CA
Heavy hors d'oeuvres. Cash Bar

A team of US and Egyptian cardiologists and archeologists have demonstrated the presence of atherosclerosis in nine ancient Egyptian mummies that were housed in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. While autopsy studies have previously demonstrated atherosclerosis in ancient Egyptians in individual case reports, these investigators found the disease to be rather common in mummies who lived as long ago as Lady Rai, a woman in her 30s, who lived along the Nile in ancient Thebes between 1570—1530 BC during Egypt's Golden Age, and who was a nursemaid to Queen Amrose Nefertari.

Scanning 22 mummies who lived between 1981 BC and 334 AD, the researchers were able to identify either arteries or a heart in 16 mummies. Surprisingly, of these, 9 had evidence of atherosclerosis. The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and attracted worldwide attention. Co-principal investigators were Drs. Gregory S. Thomas of the University of California, Irvine and Adel H. Allam of the Al Azhar Medical School in Cairo.

Join Dr. Thomas and members of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology for what will surely be a fascinating look into the distant past, as he presents the research team's findings and conclusions.

Gregroy S. Thomas, MD, MPH, FACC, FASNC
Clinical Professor & Director of Nuclear Cardiology
Education, University of California, Irvine
Director of Nuclear Cardiology & Co-Director of
Lipid Clinic, Mission Internal Medical Group
Past President, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology